[Westheim]

Raccoons (27-17) @ Falcons (21-23) – May 23-25, 2067

The superficially competent Raccoons were up against the CL South this week, starting with three games in Charlotte on Monday. The Falcons were fourth in runs scored and fifth in runs conceded, with a +10 run differential, but under .500, and had lost three in a row. They were near the bottom in home runs, but second in stolen bases. Injuries were not a problem for the team – their DL was squeaky clean. Last year, they had won five of nine games from the Portlanders.

Projected matchups:
Tony Gaytan (3-3, 3.31 ERA) vs. Edgar Mauricio (2-2, 3.41 ERA)
Shoma Nakayama (4-3, 3.58 ERA) vs. Goffredo Merlin (3-3, 4.85 ERA)
Chance Fox (0-0, 0.00 ERA) vs. Tom Kies (2-2, 2.75 ERA)

The series finale would see a duel of left-handers. Chance Fox would make a spot start because otherwise Musgrave would have to go on short rest ahead of the off day. The other two Falcons starters were right-handed.

Game 1
POR: CF Wilson – RF Corral – C Lopez – 3B Monck – LF Dowsey – 1B Starr – SS Novelo – 2B Gutierrez – P Gaytan
CHA: 2B Schmidt – 1B Padgett – C O. Matos – 3B D. Mendoza – SS Tr. Taylor – LF S. Brown – RF Asencio – CF Ricker – P E. Mauricio

The Raccoons got Jaden Wilson on base to begin the first by virtue of Mauricio nicking the batter, and Monck to begin the second with a single, and both were immediately wiped out on double plays by Corral and Dowsey, respectively. Instead, Gaytan plunked Scott Brown with an 0-2 pitch in the bottom 2nd, the runner angrily stole second base, and scored on Kyle Ricker’s 2-out RBI single to left for an early Falcons lead. Gaytan allowed four singles in three frames and got a double play grounder from Cody Padgett in the third inning himself, while the Raccoons brought up the minimum in three, but then got Wilson and Corral to the corners with a walk and single to start the top 4th against Mauricio. Ramon Lopez blundered into *another* double play, but at least Wilson came home to tie the game…

For a while in the middle innings, Gaytan got groundball to middle infielder after ground ball to middle infielder until he was quite suddenly taken deep for a 2-out homer in the sixth by Diego Mendoza; the Raccoons would immediately tie it up again in the seventh though with a leadoff jack from Ramon Lopez, which was somehow his first of the year. The game then remained firmly tied; after the four early singles, the Mendoza blast was the only hit allowed by Gaytan from the fourth through eighth innings, although the Raccoons were similarly strapped for hits against Mauricio and then the pen. Alvaro Garza offered a leadoff walk to Lopez in the ninth, but Monck now hit into a double play, and when Garza walked Dowsey there was at least only one more out to fritter away. Starr singled to right, but Novelo popped out to John Schmidt, and Gaytan was left with a no-decision. Yamauchi took the ball in the ninth, leadoff walk to Oscar Matos, and then Mendoza hit into a double play. Trent Taylor’s groundout sent the game to extras, where the Raccoons still did nothing, and Bob West was quickly overcome on a Marco Asencio double and Ricker’s walkoff single to center. 3-2 Falcons. Monck 2-3, BB; Gaytan 8.0 IP, 5 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 0 BB, 4 K and 1-3;

Game 2
POR: CF Wilson – RF Corral – LF Dowsey – 3B Monck – C Aguilar – 1B Starr – SS Novelo – 2B Gutierrez – P Nakayama
CHA: 2B Schmidt – 1B Padgett – C O. Matos – 3B D. Mendoza – SS Tr. Taylor – LF S. Brown – RF Fountain – CF Ricker – P Merlin

The Falcons broke out for a 3-run first inning (one earned) on Nakayama in the first inning as Matos socked a 2-run homer after John Schmidt reached on a bad throw by Novelo, and then Nakayama was hit around with singles by Mendoza, Brown, and Elijah Fountain to but another run together until Ricker flew out to Dowsey to end the inning. Nakayama never got his stuff together and was torn up as early as the third inning, allowing three straight singles to the 6-7-8 batters before walking the opposing pitcher and giving up two more singles for another three runs (all earned), which put him at ten hits and six runs allowed in 2.2 innings. Yamauchi came in and got a groundout to short from Matos, ending the bleed at 6-0, and after that it would be Holzmeister; the Raccoons again brought up the minimum the first time through and looked done for the day already, although Jaden Wilson hit a double past the sliding Ricker to begin the fourth inning – first Raccoons base runner in the game – and then was brought around to score with productive outs by Corral and Dowsey.

But for now Yamauchi remained in the game for some more outs, retiring the Falcons in the fourth. The Raccoons got Novelo on base with two outs in the fifth inning. He stole second, then was singled home by Gutierrez, who stole second, and then was singled home by Yamauchi! Merlin allowed another single to Wilson, a passed ball advanced the runners, and Corral drew a bases-filling walk with two outs. Merlin walked in a run against Dowsey, 6-4, then ran another full count against Rich Monck, who singled up the middle, driving in Wilson and Corral, and tying the score at six…! Merlin was yanked before Aguilar flew out to right against Orazio Cecere to end the inning.

Yamauchi pitched another inning, collecting seven outs while stranding the bases loaded and hitting the 2-out RBI single in the middle of a 5-run rally, all on his second straight day of pitching, so that was a solid day’s work. A win was not in the cards for him though, and the Raccoons then still turned the ball over to Holzmeister in the bottom 6th, so before long the bases were loaded as he nicked Mendoza, Taylor singled, and Brown drew a walk, all with two outs. Elijah Fountain hit a fly to deep right, sending Corral scurrying back, but he was able to make the catch on the edge of the warning track. Corral then homered off Cecere for a 7-6 lead in the top 7th, and Holzmeister somehow put up another scoreless inning after that, even though Ricker hit a leadoff single.

To 8th, and the lefty Jason Stine issued a leadoff walk to Starr. Novelo singled, but was forced out by the pinch-hitting Tallent’s grounder to short. Ramon Lopez batted for Holzmeister and hit an RBI double to left that Brown narrowly missed, 8-6, before a soft Wilson single loaded the bases with one out for Corral. The count ran to 3-1 before Corral grounded to right. John Schmidt intercepted the ball on the lunge, but had only the play at first base, and Tallent scored from third base. Dowsey struck out to end the inning, but Josh C retired the Falcons’ 3-4-5 in order in the eighth inning before the 3-run lead went to Alvey against the mixed bottom half of the order. He gave up a 1-out double to Fountain in the ninth, but the Falcons could neither get that runner home, nor bring the tying run to the plate before they ran out of outs. 9-6 Raccoons! Wilson 2-4, 2B; Gutierrez 2-3, RBI; Lopez (PH) 1-1, 2B, RBI; Yamauchi 2.1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 3 K and 1-1, RBI; Holzmeister 2.0 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 1 K, W (2-2);

Now, that was a rally!

Game 3
POR: CF Wilson – SS Novelo – C Lopez – 3B Monck – 1B Starr – LF Early – RF Tallent – 2B Gutierrez – P Fox
CHA: 2B Schmidt – LF Padgett – C O. Matos – 3B D. Mendoza – SS Tr. Taylor – CF Ricker – RF Fountain – 1B McNeal – P Kies

Fox would not face a left-handed batter in this game, and it didn’t go very well at all. From the start he lacked stuff and instead pitched behind in the count. He would walk four Falcons in the first three innings, evading damage in the first two innings, but leadoff walks to Kies and Schmidt were hard to recover from in the third inning, and the Falcons took a 2-0 lead on a wallbanger double by Matos with one out. Fox issued another walk in the fourth inning, and two singles in the fifth, but both times the Falcons would leave the tack-on run on third base. That was all for Fox, who expended 98 mostly unimpressive pitches to make it through five innings, although the Falcons got only those two runs Matos drove in. However, the Raccoons were on three singles and no runs at that point. They added nothing of value in the seventh, but Tallent began the eighth with a single off Kies. A wild pitch and Gutierrez’ grounder moved him to third base, and Dowsey’s pinch-hit single got the Coons on the board in a 2-1 game. Wilson whiffed and Novelo flew out to right, though, ending the inning.

Jesse Dover pitched around an error by Marquise Early to keep the Falcons from extending in the bottom 8th, and the Raccoons then brought the 3-4-5 up against Alvaro Garza in the ninth. Lopez flew out, but Monck singled and Starr worked a walk to put bodies on base. Corral batted for Early against the right-hander, and four straight balls loaded the bases. Matas batted for Tallent, grounded sharply to short, and the Falcons’ Gold Glove shortstop Trent Taylor made a bare-handed grab on the dash and flung it home, where Monck was tagged out at the plate by Matos, much to the excitement of Taylor, who had fallen after the fling and was now repeatedly slapping his bare hand on the grass. The bags were still loaded for Gutierrez with two outs, and he also hit a grounder to short, but very soft, and it died before Taylor could have a whiff at ANY play, and the Raccoons tied the game on a 2-out infield single in the ninth…! Aguilar was the last bat on the short bench and batted for Dover, slashed the first pitch he got through the right side, and drove in two runs to take the lead…! Garza was yanked in favor of Stine, who got Wilson to fly out to center, and then McMahan was sent in to save the game against the switch-hitting Matos and an array of righty sticks after that. Matos whiffed and Mendoza grounded out, but Trent Taylor walloped a 2-out homer over the fence to reduce the lead to one run. McMahan then brushed Ricker to put the tying run on base, and Asencio’s single got the winning run on base. The Raccoons didn’t have any REAL options in the pen, so McMahan faced Josh McNeal, even though he was also a right-handed batter (Asencio was a lefty swinger). McNeal took a strike, then popped it up to Monck, and that ended the game. 4-3 Critters! Monck 2-4; Tallent 2-3; Dowsey (PH) 1-1, RBI; Aguilar (PH) 1-1, 2 RBI;

Is this the return of the Rallycoons??

What an amazing feeling to have a team that can actually overcome deficits! What is going on??

Mike Roberts came off the DL on Thursday and the Raccoons returned Carlos Gutierrez (.233, 1 HR, 8 RBI) to St. Petersburg.

Raccoons (29-18) @ Aces (24-23) – May 27-29, 2067

Vegas games were not shy of runs, as the Aces ranked second in the league in runs scored, but also tenth in runs allowed, and carried a -19 run differential with them. Their rotation was struggling with an ERA of about four-and-a-half, but the pen was fireworks and put up a league-worst 5.13 ERA. They were however up 2-1 on the season series against the Coons. Starting pitchers Matthew May and Dan Garicia were on the DL, as was cornerstone bat Alex Alfaro.

The Aces had just made a trade with the Condors, parting with OF Phil LeVan (.183, 1 HR, 11 RBI) to pick up 1B Leonardo Jimenez, who had appeared in just five games for Tijuana this year, batting .250 with nothing.

Projected matchups:
Ryan Musgrave (4-2, 2.78 ERA) vs. Gabe Molina (3-4, 3.45 ERA)
Nick Walla (5-1, 2.54 ERA) vs. Tim Henderson (3-3, 3.82 ERA)
Gabriel Rios (5-2, 3.81 ERA) vs. Preston Young (3-4, 4.34 ERA)

Molina was the only left-handed starter the Aces had to offer.

Game 1
POR: CF Wilson – SS Novelo – C Lopez – 3B Monck – 1B Starr – LF Early – RF Tallent – 2B Roberts – P Musgrave
LVA: SS Hatakeyama – 2B O. Aredondo – LF Lorenzo – 3B Vic. Morales – RF Rosado – 1B L. Jimenez – CF A. Warner – C A. Perez – P G. Molina

The first inning saw the Coons go up 1-0 on a Pablo Novelo homer and then Koji Hatakeyama sacrificed himself, appearing to suffer a leg injury sliding into third base on a leadoff triple in the bottom 1st. Danny Sanchez ran for him as he was helped off the field, but Musgrave struck out Oscar Aredondo and Vic Lorenzo before Vic Morales grounded out to Monck to strand the pinch-runner. The game from there progressed quite briskly; the next four innings were largely uneventful, as both teams mostly declined the chance to hit against the opposing pitcher, and there was a grand total of five hits scattered between the teams through five innings, and even fewer left on base as Novelo hit into a double play to erase Wilson, and Aredondo got himself caught stealing along the way.

Wilson flew out against Molina to begin the sixth inning, but after that the bases filled up with a Novelo single, Lopez drawing a walk, and Monck hitting a single to right. Dowsey was next and got a dismal hanger from Molina for a first pitch, and HAMMERED it high and deep to right, and never to be seen again! GRAAAAAAAAAAAND SLAAAAAAAAAAAAAMMMM!!!!

With a 5-0 lead now, we took note of Musgrave’s very manageable pitch count – 68 through six innings of 3-hit ball – and while he only used 12 more pitches in the seventh inning, the Aces got on the board with Vic Lorenzo’s leadoff single, stolen base, and productive outs by the ex-Coon Morales, who grounded out, and Alfredo Rosado’s sac fly to center, 5-1, so the shutout was off the table. Aaron Warner, Angel Perez, and Mike Davis went in order against him in the eighth inning, and he batted for himself in the ninth against right-hander Danny Ryba. He singled, but was ultimately left on base, then climbed the hill again to face the top of the Vegas lineup in the bottom 9th, Sanchez grounding out to begin the inning. Aredondo’s grounder hit off Monck’s wrist for an error, but Aredondo was forced out on a Lorenzo grounder to second-sacker Randy Tallent, who also got a grounder from Vic Morales, and played that for the final out of the game. 5-1 Coons! Novelo 3-5, HR, RBI; Dowsey 3-4, HR, 4 RBI; Musgrave 9.0 IP, 4 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 0 BB, 3 K, W (5-2) and 1-3, BB;

Game 2
POR: CF Wilson – RF Corral – LF Dowsey – 3B Monck – C Aguilar – 1B Starr – SS Novelo – 2B Roberts – P Walla
LVA: SS D. Sanchez – 2B O. Aredondo – LF Lorenzo – 3B Vic. Morales – RF Rosado – 1B L. Jimenez – CF Caceres – C A. Perez – P T. Henderson

Walla struck out two in the first before being taken deep with a leadoff jack by Vic Morales in the bottom 2nd. However, Jaden Wilson went deep to center with Roberts on base in the third inning to flip the score to 2-1 Portland. That wasn’t the end of homer duels, though, as Walla would put Rosado on base with a single and get taken deep by new arrival Leonardo Jimenez to give the Aces the lead back in the fourth inning.

The Raccoons had only two hits in five innings before Dowsey and Monck hit back-to-back 1-out singles in the sixth, but Aguilar and Starr made poor outs and the runners were stranded. Walla had given up only three hits in five innings, but somehow those runners had all jiggered across home plate to score… In the sixth, Morales hit a 2-out single and Walla lost the left-handed Rosado on balls, but then struck out Jimenez to get out of the inning himself. A Perez single then knocked him out in the seventh inning, but Bob West allowed a single to Mike Davis, the only batter he faced, and Josh Carrington faced four batters and retired NONE of them, allowing singles to Aaron Warner and Aredondo to get a run home each, then was taken deep by Lorenzo and doubled off by Vic Morales. HOLZMEISTER now had to come in to restore order, which was the point where I calmly marked an L in my pocket schedule. There was no rally in the Raccoons, even though they got Wilson, Corral, and Monck singles off former Loggers righty Randy Birnbaum in the eighth inning, but only to have Aguilar and Starr croak and leave the bases loaded. Holzmeister pitched the eighth before the Raccoons faced Birnbaum for another four batters in the ninth, giving up straight singles to Matas, Roberts, Early (plating Matas), and Wilson, and reducing the score to 8-3, setting up a save opportunity for Jon Dominguez. Corral lined out to Mike Davis at first, and Wilson was caught off the bag and tagged out for a breathtakingly stupid 3-U double play. Two runs scored afterwards on a Dowsey double, but Monck’s fly out ended the game. 8-5 Aces. Wilson 3-5, HR, 2 RBI; Dowsey 3-5, 2B, 2 RBI; Monck 2-5; Matas (PH) 1-1; Early (PH) 1-1, RBI;

Hatakeyama, batting .271 with 20 stolen bases, was off to the DL for Vegas on Sunday, with a diagnosis of a knee contusion and at least two weeks on the shelf.

Game 3
POR: RF Corral – LF Dowsey – C Lopez – 3B Monck – 1B Starr – SS Novelo – CF Matas – 2B Roberts – P Rios
LVA: RF Caceres – 2B O. Aredondo – LF Lorenzo – 3B Vic. Morales – 1B L. Jimenez – CF Marazzo – C A. Perez – SS D. Sanchez – P P. Young

The only hitting anybody did the first time through for either team was Preston Young hitting Joel Starr with a fastball, and Starr was non too amused about taking one in the ribs and then being left on base, but maybe he wanted to channel being mad at either team into a homer later on? A fourth-inning single by Starr was surely the first base hit by either team, but he was left on base again, while Rios faltered in the bottom 3rd and gave up two runs on a Jimenez single with the bases loaded, with two of three Aces runners having reached on walks. Like Fox on Wednesday, Rios put up four walks without striking anybody out through four innings. Jorge Caceres drew another walk off him in the fifth, and in the sixth he was knocked out by Lorenzo and Jimenez singles, putting runners on the corners with one out. Yamauchi came in, walked Nate Marazzo to fill ‘em up, and then gave up a 2-run single to Perez, 4-0. Sanchez then hit into a double play.

The Raccoons were still getting 1-hit through six, and when Monck opened the top of the seventh inning with a ball off the wall for a double, he was stranded in cold blood with three meager outs. Mike Roberts’ leadoff single in the eighth gave the Raccoons as many runs (zilch) with straight poor outs by Wilson, Corral, and Dowsey against Young, who went seven and two thirds, and Birnbaum, who then plunked Ramon Lopez to start the ninth inning. Monck smashed into a 4-6-3 double play and Starr popped out to short to end a soggy game. 4-0 Aces. Roberts 1-2, BB;

In other news

May 25 – The Loggers’ OF/2B Tim Goss (.356, 2 HR, 28 RBI) hits for the cycle in a 4-for-6 outing with a lone RBI as Milwaukee takes the Bayhawks apart, 14-1.
May 26 – Blue Sox SP Tony Marquez (3-5, 4.18 ERA) spins a 2-hit shutout with six strikeouts in a 2-0 win against the Gold Sox.
May 26 – CIN OF/1B Dallas Baker (.288, 5 HR, 24 RBI) hits a walkoff grand slam to beat the Wolves, 7-3 in ten innings.
May 27 – Ulnar nerve irritation could spell season over for Boston SP Bryce Wallace (6-2, 2.17 ERA).
May 29 – MIL SP Nick Waldron (8-0, 3.33 ERA) fires a 3-hitter in a 1-0 shutout of the Knights.
May 29 – Scorpions infielder Alex Gonzilez (.258, 4 HR, 25 RBI) has four hits, a homer shy of the cycle, and drives in five runs from the #8 spot in the lineup on the long end of a 14-7 football score against the Buffaloes.

FL Player of the Week: PIT OF Sal Andon (.278, 3 HR, 21 RBI), batting .400 (10-25) with 1 HR, 6 RBI
CL Player of the Week: MIL RF/LF Carlos Dominguez (.401, 7 HR, 36 RBI), raking .611 (11-18) with 3 HR, 7 RBI

Complaints and stuff

The Raccoons, despite the meh end to the week, ranked in the top 3 in runs scored and runs allowed in the CL, with a +30 run differential. We weren’t quite sure how that had happened, either.

But the team was on an 18-9 May despite the 3-3 week that coulda gone better, and the two defeats on the way out of Vegas marked only our second time in May of losing more than one game in a row. The Crusaders had also won a pair off us in the middle of that 4-game series in New York last week. We had yet to post anything worse than an L3 this season.

The team needed another quality right-handed reliever, though, and a plan on what to do with the supernumerary left-hander in the bullpen that limited the bench to four guys. Chance Fox’ start on Wednesday had been frankly terrible, and he was not going to take another turn next week. But what on Earth do you *do* with him then…?

Another off day coming on Thursday, now in a home week hosting the two foreign teams, the Condors and damn Elks.

Fun Fact: The Bayhawks have been involved in all of the three most recent cycles in the league.

San Francisco’s Armando Montoya of course hit for the cycle in Portland last September in a game that the Bayhawks won, but the other two took place in San Francisco, and both with the Baybirds on the receiving end by the Loggers! Tim Goss did the deed on Wednesday, and in 2065 it was Jonathan Merrill to hit for the cycle in San Fran, in a game that the Bayhawks actually won.

In fact, both the Merrill and Montoya cycles came in 9-8 San Fran wins.

There have been two more cycles this decade in which the Bayhawks were involved, both on the dishing-out end. Jonathan Echols cycled against the Knights in ’63, and Grant Anker hit for the cycle in 2061, ALSO against the Loggers. That game took place in Milwaukee, though.